Frequent farmers’ market artisan Kathy Noordsij is a true artist, working her magic nearby on the shores of Lake Winnepesauke. We caught up with her at the end of a market day to learn more about her art and story. We discovered of how exactly she came to be one of our vendors and we were both surprised and charmed by what she shared.
It turns out Kathy is an MD in Internal Medicine who left her practice to raise her children. This led her to volunteer in her kids’ elementary school in the art class where she became best friends with the art teacher and began exploring her artistic side.
As a child growing up, Kathy observed her father making jewelry as a hobby and remembers he had always spoken of a desire to be able to devote himself exclusively to his art. As she experimented with various kinds of fine art she soon found herself using her father’s tools to create her own style of jewelry.
Once she determined a direction, she first took an adult education course in “…how not to burn the house down with a torch” and then gave herself permission to not be afraid of making mistakes. In 2018 Kathy established her business.
To our untrained eyes, Kathy has a very sophisticated and generous style you would expect to be the result of a fine art school; long apprenticeships and decades of experience. On full display is an alchemy of passion, attention to detail, and love of beauty she has built-on over seven years. She has made many, many customers very happy with her pieces and had kept the promise she made to herself to enjoy every step of her journey. She vowed to only make and sell what she wanted to and, lucky for us, this means attending our market. Thanks for the life lessons Kathy! You can find her on FB Kathy Noordsij Designs and at Kathyndesigns.com.
